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Celebrating 50,000 Savers over 18 years of service!

Saver Plus is celebrating that over the course of 18 years, we’ve helped over 50,000 participants learn how to develop lifelong savings habits. That is a total of over $26M in savings since the program started in 2003.

A photo of mother and daughter
“I’m so proud to be able to provide this for her. I never had that sort of thing.” – Lisa*, Mildura, VIC

Developed in partnership between BSL and ANZ, Saver Plus is now the world’s largest and longest-running matched savings program. Focused on improving the financial and social wellbeing of Australians experiencing disadvantage, it has grown over the past 18 years from being run from just one BSL site in Frankston to 60 locations across Australia.

Saver Plus offers participants a 10-month program of education, guidance, and support that includes;

  • A matched savings component where every dollar saved is matched by ANZ, up to a total of $500,
  • Financial education through MoneyMinded, and
  • Participant support.

One of our favourite success stories is Lisa* who discovered Saver Plus in 2011. Before the program, Lisa was conservative with her money, but she didn’t have a savings account. “I’ve always been pretty savvy with money, [however] the carrot of the matched savings was the deciding factor for me [to join Saver Plus], it was a huge amount!”

The Saver Plus program gave Lisa a savings goal to work towards, with a weekly amount that worked within her budget. As her savings grew over the years, she felt a real sense of pride and accomplishment. When Lisa’s daughter started to do really well in school, her motivation to save for her daughter’s university costs kicked into high gear, and she increased her weekly savings amount from $15 to $50 a week, an amount she thought was not possible on a minimal wage.

She recalls the MoneyMinded workshops as a great source of financial education and has shared this knowledge with her daughter over the years, who now has her own savings account. Since 2011, Lisa has saved over $11,000 - a feat she is incredibly proud of, and plans to surprise her daughter with the savings as a gift to help pay for uni costs. 

“I’m so proud to be able to provide this for her. I never had that sort of thing.”

To learn more, please visit: bsl.org.au/saver-plus/

* name changed for privacy